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Alan Hardy has outlined his plans to set up a girls' academy at Notts County with a view to forming a sustainable Lady Pies outfit which will work its way up to the Women's Super League. The Magpies owner and chairman took the decision to fold the original Notts County Ladies side last month due to it being unsustainable and "financial suicide" to keep afloat. He was roundly criticised for the decision, but he insists that, as a business model, it simply did not work out, and this week he has pledged to bring women's football back to Meadow Lane the right way. My ambition has always been to have a girls' academy sitting alongside the boys' academy," Hardy told the Nottingham Post. "The boys' academy is super successful. We have a target and an ambition that 25 percent of the first-team will be made up of guys who have come through our academy in the next three years. That's the pathway we want, from academy through to first-team. "Unfortunately, the ladies' team I inherited was an entity on its own. There was just the first-team; there was nothing that was attaching it to the club in any way – probably because it was brought over from Lincoln and it had no structure or foundations. "As of next season, we will have an under-nines, under-10s and under-11s girls' academy, which will be playing in the boys' Young Elizabethan League (YEL). "That will be starting in the next few weeks and we will be holding trials to pick out the best elite girls across the county, in order to take them on a wonderful coaching pathway from where they are now through to, ultimately, a ladies' first-team in six, eight years' time – and hopefully be the next England internationals. "It's the start of something which has structure and foundations, and which is affordable and sustainable. It's always been my ambition. "In the previous guise, Notts County Ladies was not a sustainable business model. And who knows where the Women's Super League will be in six years' time. It won't be in its current guise now, I'm sure of that. It will have morphed and developed. "I would like Notts County to be a part of that. We'll have to work our way through the leagues and through the divisions, but that's how it should be. "We will start at the bottom and we will work our way through. But the ultimate ambition is to have a ladies' team that is playing in the top-flight, whatever that is called and whatever it looks like. "But what is absolutely critical is it is underpinned by an academy pathway, so girls who are joining that academy at age eight can see a very clear route through to the first-team." Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

The Football Association has agreed to a rebalancing of the number of teams in FA WSL 1 and FA WSL 2 for the 2017-18 season in the wake of Notts County Ladies folding. The decision has been made to continue with 10 FA WSL 1 teams for the forthcoming 2017-18 season, which begins in September, ensuring there is even numbers in both divisions. FA WSL 2 clubs are now able to apply for the remaining place in FA WSL 1. The application process will require clubs to demonstrate how they will meet the additional licence criteria, financial and staffing requirements of FA WSL 1. The decision, which will be made in June, will be based on the applicant clubs' skills in business management, youth development and marketing, as well as the quality of their facilities and their performances on the pitch in the past 12 months. Before the Lady Pies' liquidation, there would have been 10 teams in WSL 1 for 2017-18, and 11 in WSL 2. Everton can win the WSL 2 Spring Series title on Saturday, but there is no promotion and relegation between the top two tiers at the end of the one-off competition. One of either Blackburn Rovers or Tottenham Hotspur, who face each other in a promotion play-off at the end of May, will join WSL 2 for the 2017-18 campaign. Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Alan Hardy has claimed that he did everything he could to try and keep Notts County Ladies afloat, but ultimately the numbers did not add up and so had to go ahead with "one of the toughest calls" of his career. The Lady Pies folded last Friday, just two days before the start of the WSL Spring Series one-off season, prompting backlash from the team's players and fans. Hardy dedicated his weekly Nottingham Post column to the club, writing: "It would be remiss of me not to focus this week's column on Notts County Ladies and the gut-wrenching and sad decision I had to take regarding their future. "It is one of the toughest calls I have ever had to make because there were livelihoods at stake, and good, good, people at the heart of a fantastic club. "I tried everything I could to find ways of maintaining the Ladies team here at Meadow Lane even though we would be regarded as the underdogs in a league including Arsenal, Man City et al. "I revisited the numbers time and time again in what was a pretty exhaustive process and it gave me many sleepless nights. "But the truth of the matter is the numbers just didn't stack up no matter how hard or how many times I looked at them and tried to make them work. "I even enlisted the help of a marketing consultant, a lady who is well known within women's sporting circles. "She held a senior position with Sport England and came on board for three months in order to build some momentum in terms of generating funding to help us avoid this scenario. "We put a lot of irons in the fire and we thought there was more than a good chance of a strong outcome, but it turned out that every iron we pulled out turned cold. "It was therefore extremely sad, and I was truly devastated to admit defeat. "Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of what the Premier League clubs have which is the access to vast sums of money which they can afford to invest." To read Alan Hardy's Nottingham Post column in full, click here. Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Notts County have confirmed that they will not be having an end-of-season awards night out of respect for the demise of Notts County Ladies. On Friday, the Magpies announced that the ladies' club would be folding just days before the start of the Spring Series, putting its players - many of whom are internationals - out of a job. As a result, Alan Hardy believes a celebration of the achievements of the club - whose men's team is now safe in League Two after months of relegation struggles - would be inappropriate. Hardy told the official Notts site: “It’s been a very difficult week for everyone connected with Notts County – players, staff and fans. "While Kevin and his team deserve recognition for all their hard work, I don’t think it’s right that we go ahead with an event of this nature.” The site goes on to add that supporters who have booked their place at the dinner will be contacted by the club’s commercial department, with more information to follow in due course, while the awards will now be presented at this weekend’s match against Blackpool. Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.

Notts County Ladies have folded just two days before their first match of the WSL Spring Series. Due to face Arsenal Ladies away on Sunday, the Lady Pies were told the club cannot stay afloat 15 minutes before Friday's announcement. In March, a winding-up petition against the club was adjourned for a second time, giving Notts until 3 July to pay debts owed to HM Revenue and Customs. However, Alan Hardy said he "reluctantly admitted defeat" in his bid to save the Women's Super League 1 outfit. A statement on the Notts website said: "I am devastated that we cannot continue the Ladies project but the numbers simply do not stack up. Continuing would have been little short of financial suicide. "I wish to be totally transparent with supporters about the sums of money involved here. When I took over the club, HMRC and other creditors had in excess of £350,000 of unpaid liabilities. "Additionally, I was extremely concerned that to operate Notts County Ladies for the current season was going to cost us approximately £500,000 – a figure principally made up of player and coaching salaries. Our total projected incoming revenue from attendances and sponsorship was £28,000. "I have been tremendously impressed by the passion and enthusiasm shown by everyone connected with the Ladies set-up – manager, players and backroom team. "They have represented Notts County with dignity, success and the utmost professionalism over the past three seasons. But the fact remains we simply cannot fund such a huge operating loss. "I was also concerned that we had no real pathway for young players in Nottingham to graduate through the ranks into a WSL team. "The existing structure is such that we have a strong elite-level team, but no academy pathway of progression through age-group teams. "I met many times with the FA with a view to being granted Regional Talent Centre status but realistically it would have taken more than two years to become accredited. "It's a very sad day for me personally and supporters should rest assured I have left no stone unturned in my quest to save the club. "However, having taken all factors into consideration, the only possible outcome is to discontinue our Ladies club. "I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to the staff and players and we all wish them every success in finding new clubs." Players and fans were quick to voice their sadness at the news.

Jess Clarke, one of the longest-serving players in the Notts County Ladies team, has completed a move to Liverpool Ladies for an undisclosed fee. The 27-year-old, a striker who came through the youth setup at Leeds Carnegie Ladies, joined the Lady Pies in 2010, spending the last six seasons at the club. Clarke was part of the 2015 Notts squad that reached two major cup finals, including the Women’s FA Cup Final, the first to be held at Wembley Stadium. On the departure, Notts manager Rick Passmoor said: “Jess has been a fantastic asset to this team for the three seasons we’ve been here. "She expressed a desire to move on to a new challenge – a request we reluctantly accepted." On her move, Clarke told the Liverpool website: “I am delighted to join Liverpool Ladies and I’m really looking forward to working alongside the players and Scott. “There is already a great squad of players here and I am confident that we will have a successful Spring Series.” Liverpool Ladies boss Scott Rogers, meanwhile, said: "Jess will give us more options up front and I am confident that she can prove to be a really important addition to the squad. “Jess is lightning quick, as well as being clinical in front of goal. She is also proven in the FAWSL, so I am delighted to have signed her ahead of the upcoming Spring Series." Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans.